Practical sheep husbandry

Front matter

SHEEP HUSBANDRY

WM. A. BURl

Class SFSTS"

Preface

WE have in this country today a few good breeders of sheep, and their work has been good; and although more of their kind are needed and better breeding needs to be encouraged, I find my attention drawn to the commercial and farm flock.

During the early winter of 1918, I was introduced to one of Illinois' best cattle feeders. We talked sheep and the sheep business a little while, and as I walked away I heard him say to his commission man: "Why didn't you teach me the sheep business? I know that I would like sheep ; I need them on my farm and have always wanted to handle them, but I don't want to try raising or feeding them and fail at it, as so many of my neighbors have done." This statement, by a successful cattle feeder, set me to thinking of the great need for information and education of the right sort regarding sheep, and resulted in my decision to offer this little book on the subject. I wish it understood, however, that I am not offering this as a complete work on sheep or sheep feeding, and that my principal object is to point out to the honest seeker after some practical information, the kind of animal he is doing business with, and the methods necessary to insure success.

I will try to show in this little volume how the farm flock can be kept at a profit; hov/ to care for, fatten and feed sheep and lambs for the market; what the market demands are; and, if possible, create a greater demand for mutton and lamb by offering some excellent recipes for preparing and serving this food.

The product offered on the market, only too plainly shows lack of information on tlie part of the men who are trying to handle sheep. It has been well said that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and so while the producer has been schooled along certain lines, he has failed, because one especial fundamental has not been thoroughly pointed out to him, namely, the real nature of sheep.

Nature has given to every living thing in the animal kingdom, some means of defense or protection. The sheep, in a prehistorical period, may have been fleet of foot, and with its horns was amply able to take good care of itself among the beasts of prey. The sheep of today is in reality a product of man's ingenuity. This animal has been, through domestication, schooled entirely away from his native state, and is a helpless thing but for man's protecting arm. The American farmer needs to know, when he turns his sheep out to rustle for themselves,

PREFACE

that they will be just as good as the man who cares for them, no better and no worse.

We are just what education and breeding have made us, whether that education has been false or true. Both of the following examples tend to show when and how some of our most noble animals were originally created ; and what breeding and education will accomplish :

One of the noblest animals which we possess is the Newfoundland dog, which was produced by crossing the Eskimo dog with a French Hound; likewise the English thoroughbred of today is the result of crossing an Arabian stallion with an ordinary English mare, although, of course, especially selected.

The mistakes that have been made in the sheep business should not discourage any one desirous of going into it, and the fact that I bring some of these errors to the surface, should not alarm the reader; because, as a certain great writer has well said, "Error discovered is two-thirds destroyed."

Avthorities Consulted

It will be my intention to keep all prejudice and biased opinions well out of my mind. I have consulted the best authorities, and wish to express my appreciation to Mr. F. R. Marshall of the Department of Animal Industry at Washington, and Prof. W. C. Coffey of the University of Illinois, both of whom have furnished considerable data, some of the feeding formulas and considerable important information ; also to Mr. E. W. Baker, of the U. S. Bureau of Markets at Chicago, who has lent a very helping hand, and to the American Sheep Breeder and Wool Grower, U. S. Yards, Chicago, which has been very kind in furnishing and helping to arrange the various cuts and pictures through the book.

Contents

Advantages of Agricultural Stations

After Weaning

Age

Chapter I The Sheep; Its History, Breeding; And Problems

OF PRODUCTION

History of Sheep

i<QHEEP," Webster says, "are among the most useful animals that O the Creator has bestowed on man, as its wool constitutes a principal material of warm clothing, and its flesh is a great article of food. The sheep is remarkable for its harmless temper and its timidity. The varieties are numerous."

They Have Turned This Once Wild and Weedy Pasture Into Blue Grass

There is evidence that sheep were under domestication through eastern countries in prehistoric times, for their bones have been found in caves and lake dwellings, where the people of those countries then lived. Rome developed a great deal of skill in handling her flocks, and sneep abounded in Spain prior to the Christian era. It is the first animal spoken of in the Bible, and we find the following, as well as many other records, showing that in early history sheep were domesticated, and that men were then using their flesh for food and their wool for clothing :

Genesis 4 :2, "Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground."

Samuel 25:18, "Then Abigail took five sheep ready dressed," etc.

Leviticus 13:47, "Whether it be a woolen garment or a linen garment."

Genesis 31:19, "and Laben went to shear his sheep."

It is very interesting and striking to note the enormous number of sheep raised in Palestine in Biblical times. The following statement is made by Smith in his Bible dictionary:

"Chardin says he saw a clan of Turcoman shepherds, whose flock consisted of 3,000,000 sheep and goats, besides 400,000 beasts of carriage, as horses, asses and camels."

Every bit of care and breeding that has been given the sheep in the past has tended to mould the sheep of today. The rat family really thrive and do better, looking after themselves, than they do with the best care man can give them, but sheep are just the opposite and require attention.

The sheep, since we have any record of it, has been under man's care, and so it is a law of their very nature to depend on man for their protection. Looking back through their entire history, we find them folded at night, protected through the day, and feed, water, salt, etc., furnished them, and so today it is not the nature of sheep to look after themselves.

It was the ancient custom for the shepherd to go before his flock, calling them to follow.

John 10 :4, "And when he putteth forth his own sheep he goeth before them, and he calleth his own sheep by name and leadeth them out, and a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him, for they know not the voice of strangers."

Sheep respond quickly if called by their names, and a good shepherd can call one from a large flock and have it at his side at once by calling its name. However, they will not respond to a strange call, showing by this characteristic their educated love for their master.

In early history the better classes considered sheep raising a very honorable occupation, and both sexes in some of the best families followed sheep husbandry.

Exodus 2:16, "Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and drew water to water their father's flocks, and the shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and helped them."

We also read that King David was a shepherd boy and many other noted men as well were shepherds.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE DIFFERENT BREEDS

The development of sheep, as they concern the people of today, began in England and Spain around the year 1000. At that time both countries were manifesting a great deal of interest in sheep development ; and by the year 1500 they were recognized as the great sheep breeding countries of the world.

The Merino

Spain at a very early period developed the Merino, a small sheep, quite free from wrinkles. Its wool was very fine and its fleece of wool very heavy. The early record of the Merino forms an interesting chapter in central the history of sheep. Large flocks were moved from south to Spain each spring, and returned again in the fall, the total distance of these annual journeys being over a thousand miles. The rugged strength and endurance of these sheep was undoubtedly most strongly developed at this time.

The Merino is a gregarious animal and the improved American Merino shows the result of this inheritance in its ability to exist in great flocks and to thrive and subsist under a great variety of climatic and other varied conditions.

tmM

The Merino was introduced into this country as early as 1793, and An A Type Merino Ram slucc that tlmc great progress has

been made in the development of both its fleece and form. It is a wool bearing sheep, and its carcass does not produce much mutton, nor is it of a good quality, but because of its hardihood and great wool bearing qualities, it is now in great demand to cross on the coarser wooled breeds. Such great breeders as Humphrey, Atwood, Hammond and many others have done much towards developing this novel sheep.

There have always been several types of the Merino, but I will only attempt to give the reader a vague idea of the most distinct types now in use, and they are the A, B and C types. The American Merino is a short legged, deep bodied sheep, mature rams in full fleece weighing around 120 to 170 pounds, ewes 85 to 130 pounds. Their wool is very fine, and suitable for making the finest clothing. The staple is short, and a twelve month's growth only measures about one and one-half inches in length, but owing to the great mass of folds or wrinkles in the skin, it presents a big surface for growing wool. A mature ram in twelve months will grow a fleece weighing from 25 to 30 pounds, ewes 15 to 20 pounds. The rams as a rule have heavy, spiral turned horns, and the ewes are hornless.

The Delaine Merino is a type developed for both wool and mutton, and it is quite free from wrinkles.

It is larger than the A type and mature rams weigh from 150 to 200 pounds, ewes 100 to 150. Their wool is fine, and in twelve months it will reach a length of about three inches. Rams will shear 15 to 25 pounds of unwashed wool, ewes 10 to 15 pounds. The rams are both horned and hornless, but the ewes have no horns. They do not have many twins and are slow to mature, but are noted for their rugged constitution and longevity. They are

B Type Delaine Merino Ram also noted for the dark exterior surface of their wool, caused by a free flowing yolk that hardens on the surface and turns black.

The Rambouillet is a still larger type than the Delaine or B type, and mature rams with a full fleece weigh around 225 to 250 pounds, ewes 140 to 175.

Their wool is rather coarse for the fine wool breeds, and in twelve months the fibre reaches a length of about three inches.

Mature rams will shear about 15 to 25 pounds of unwashed wool, ewes 10 to 18 pounds. The rams have large spiral turned horns. The ewes are hornless. The Rambouillet is very prohfic, robust and a good rustler. He is also a pretty good mutton sheep and is in favor with the big ranchman to breed on his grade flocks, to produce the rugged feeding lambs required at the market, as well as the desired mutton animal.

The Rambouillet

THE ENGLISH MUTTON BREEDS

The English mutton breeds which were developed in small flocks are opposite to the Merino in several characteristics. Good shelter, feed and care are a big part of their inheritance, so in this country, if we hope to attain the success obtained by the British shepherd, we must closely follow and improve on their methods. The English shepherd has always firmly believed that a different kind of sheep was required for different localities, and so England saw fit to develop several types that were distinctly different in size, wool and mutton.

The first really great English breeder to come on the stage was Robert Bakewell (1725-1794) . Wool had declined in price to such an extent that raising sheep principally for the wool had become very unprofitable. Bakewell saw the need of a better mutton sheep, and set to work on a long, ungainly, coarse wooled, slow maturing sheep and crossed it with a smaller, finer wooled sheep. He was successful in developing an early maturing, compact, snugly built animal that was easy to fatten. He started a period of improvement in the breeding of sheep, such as the world had never seen. "Better mutton and better wool" was his slogan, and the breeders that followed him are to be commended highly in the success they attained. England today is the native home of nearly all of the modern mutton breeds, and flock-masters from all parts of the world still go there for their breeding stock. The following are the principal English mutton breeds that are found scattered more or less over this country. The American flock-master has done little or nothing towards improving the English mutton breeds.

The Southdown

The Southdown

The Southdown is one of the oldest of the Down breeds. It is a trim, compactly built, early maturing little animal, with a mouse brown colored face. Because of their early maturity and tendency to fatten and round into market condition early, they are especially recommended for early lambs. Southdown rams are always in good demand to cross on all of the different breeds. Mature rams in breeding condition weigh from 180 to 220 pounds, ewes 130 to 160 pounds. The quality of the mutton is par excellent. The two faults most severely criticised are their small size and light shearing capacity.

The Shropshire

The Shropshire is similar to the Southdown in build, although larger and more stylish. The mature rams weigh from 200 to 250 lbs.,

ewes 150 to 180 lbs., average weight of fleece 8 to 10 lbs. No sheep is

more prolific than the "Shrop." Their mutton is also excellent, but the

lambs do not round out and fatten

as early as the Southdown. The

Shropshire is a very showy looking

animal, and it is pretty safe to say

that among the farmer flock-masters there are none of the Down

breeds more popular. They are a

dark faced sheep, the wool coming

well down over face and legs, and

belly is also well covered. Their

wool is dense and compact, and

well adapted to turn the storms.

The Hampshire

The Hampshire is a bold, large sheep, with a long, deep symmetrical body, large bones and striking head features. Mature rams weigh 250 to 300 pounds, ewes 180 to 220 pounds. The head is large, face black with long, drooping ears. They mature very early, for a big sheep, and make rapid gains. Pure bred rams are always in demand from the commercial flock-master to cross with smaller breeds and grade flocks. They are prolific and thrive well if liberally fed. The ranchman is especially drawn to the Hampshire to cross on his grade Merino ewes, to produce large, early maturing lambs for the early summer and fall markets. They only shear about 8 pounds of unwashed wool.

The Shropshire

Practical Sheep Husbandry The Cotswold

The Cotswold is a large, coarse wooled sheep. The weight of fleece is from 10 to 14 pounds, mature rams weighing 275 to 400 pounds and even more, ewes 175 to 250 pounds. They are a very poor mutton sheep and hard to fatten. They are used mostly in this country for crossing

The Hampshire

with the finer wooled sheep. In certain districts through the western range country, where good shelter is furnished through the winter

months, the Cotswold is in favor in crossing on the Merino and grade flocks. Unless the breeder knows well what he is about, he had better leave the Cotswold alone, because the Cotswold sheep or lambs do not sell well on the market. The central and eastern states also discriminate against the open or loose wool sheep and lambs, because their fleece does not turn water well, and they are not so well adapted to running in the corn or other fall feeds as the closer, more compactly fleeced animal.

The Oxford Down

A Cotswold Ram

The Oxford Down was originally a cross between the Hampshire and Cotswold. It is a large, upstanding animal with a brown face. Their wool is quite dense and compact, average fleece weighing from 10 to 12 pounds. The Oxford Down is the best of the Down breeds for producing wool. They do well on the average farm feeds, and because of their superior wool quality, recommend themselves highly to the average farmer. The writer especially favors them for crossing on smaller breeds, or for up-breeding in a grade flock.

They produce good mutton, are prolific, good milkers and make excellent mothers. Average weight of ram is 275 to 300 pounds, ewe 200 to 250 pounds.

The Suffolk

The Suffolk is about the size of the Shropshire. It has a black face, with no wool on lace or legs, and very little on belly. It is a most excellent mutton sheep, but a small wool producer, average weight of fleece being 7 to 9 pounds. It is very hardy, easy to fatten and very prolific. In England

An Oxford Ram

The Suffolk

the Suffolk competes favorably with the other mutton breeds. Little is known of it in this country, but probably it would be to our advantage to know more about it.

The Dorset Horn

The Dorset Horn is really a Down breed, but most strikingly different from most of them, because of its horns and white face. It is a very strong, rugged sheep, mature rams weighing 250 to 300 pounds, ewes 150 to 200 pounds. The wool is short and the average weight of the fleece is only about 7 pounds. The quality of the mutton is only fair and the carcass, especially in the matured sheep, is inclined to be a little coarse. They are especially famous for their habit of breeding early. They have a large number of twins, and it is possible to get two crops of lambs from one set of ewes in 12 months. Lambs grow rapidly, and for early marketing are all right. They are also recommended to be crossed with the Southdown or Shrop.

The Dorset Horn

The Cheviot

A Pair of Cheviots

The Cheviot is a small, neatly built animal, with no wool on head or legs, average weight of mature rams around 170 pounds, and ewes 130 to 150 pounds. The Cheviot is a white faced sheep, ears small and erect, fleece weighing from 6 to 8 pounds. They are a very hardy sheep and distinctly a grazing breed, fattening quicker on grass than in the feed lot. The ewes are prolific, and while the lambs are very vigorous and seldom chill and die when born out of doors, they do not mature and attain weight and finish quite as fast as some of the Down breeds. The Cheviots are used mostly in this country in crossing with the Oxford, Lincoln and other larger breeds, the cross producing the kind of mutton sheep or lamb most in demand on the American market.

The Leicester

The Leicester is a white faced sheep, with rather coarse wool, inclined to be twisted and curly. Mature rams weigh from 225 to 250 pounds, ewes 175 to 200 pounds.

The mutton is rather coarse, and they require a great deal of care and do not mature and fatten as rapidly as the Down breeds. They are used mostly for crossing the Merino, the cross producing the quality that is desirable in thrifty feeders and handy weight muttons.

Leicester with good.

The Lincoln

The Lincoln is a large, robust appearing animal, with firm flesh, and from brisket to twist, carcass is thick and heavy, and in these respects it is not surpassed by any breed. The wool is very long and coarse, the staple often growing to a length of 12 inches in 12 months, and fleece weighing 12 to 15 pounds. Mature rams weigh around 300 pounds, ewes about 250 pounds. The breed, as pure bloods, is not in demand on the American mutton market, but is very valuable in crossing with the Merino and other smaller fine wooled sheep.

Lincoln

The Romney Marsh

The Romney Marsh is a large, rugged, rather low set sheep, noted for its hardy constitution and strength of bone. It belongs to the coarser wooled family, but the wool is finer and thicker than the Cotswold or Lincoln. It is considered one of the best lowland sheep known, fattens well on pasture, and crosses well with the Southdown, Hampshire or Merino. The Romney Marsh is gaining ground in the United States wherever it has been introduced, and will likely fill a greater place as it becomes more generally known in this country.

Sheep Found Healthy

I am convinced that the present rather unfavorable reputation of sheep in this country is the re- „ . suit of false education and lack of

Romney Marsh i ■, ■, i- ji -n •^1

knowledge regardmg them. It will be my idea to touch lightly on the physical condition of the sheep, although I will try to show by conclusive evidence that it is one of the most healthy animals known to man. I will deal largely with the facts necessary to the sheep producer to insure success. If I seem to tear down and condemn certain methods, I wish it understood that it is not in a spirit of condemnation, and that my intention will be to point out a better way. There is a mistaken idea that needs correcting, and this is the generally accepted theory that sheep are sickly, when in fact just the opposite is the truth. It may interest the reader to learn that the U. S. Government reports, under its system of inspection at the big packing plants, where every carcass of cattle, swine and sheep is inspected separately, the condemnation of sheep to be practically nil. Think of it, almost a one hundred per cent health verdict rendered by the medical fraternity! This knowledge forces us to give the lie to the theory that sheep are sickly. We have, then, a perfectly healthy animal to start with; this much must be admitted by all. The verdict then is: "Mr. Sheep, you are not guilty." The blame must then be placed where it belongs. This we will try to do, regardless of who it may hit.

On the Market

It is necessary that we go to the market to get first hand information regarding the sheep industry in this country. As a salesman on the Chicago market, I have been favored with rather an exceptional opportunity to observe the progress the mutton making industry has made throughout the country. During the past fall and winter (1918- 1919), the central states feeders' and farmers' marketable product was deplorably bad ; in fact, during the past few years, there has sprung up a class of feeders and producers that has done the sheep business more harm than good. When the "more sheep, more wool" agitation started a few years ago, every Tom, Dick and Harry got busy writing articles on the gospel of more sheep and wool. They jumped on the fact that sheep are the best plant scavengers on earth and rode it to death.

The Ranchman

It is the custom and practise of the big ranchmen of Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Utah, Washington and Wyoming to ship their product to market mostly during the months of July, August, September, October and November. Some of their sheep and lambs get quite fat on that very nutritious buffalo grass, found on the western range. There are some tame pasture lands, and a great deal of alfalfa is being grown, as well as roots for winter feeding. A big per cent of their shipments consist of sheep and lambs in what we term "feeder flesh." These must go out through the corn belt regions and be fattened and finished for market. During the years I have spent on this market, I have bought and sold many thousands of these sheep and lambs, and can report that as a whole, they were a strictly healthy lot.

Same Problem But Different Answers

I wish to give an example to show what good care and thoughtful management will do, in comparison with negligence and carelessness. A short time ago I purchased a band of very choice western breeding ewes, which were divided between two men, one bunch going to Indiana and the other to Illinois. The ewes cost $11.50 on the Chicago market. One of these men shipped his lambs to market from these ewes, and they sold for $17.80 a head. He also sold $5.00 worth of wool per head from his ewes, making a total of $22.80 per head to remunerate him for the care and feed given his flock for one year. This is only figuring one lamb to the ewe, or one hundred per cent, whereas good shepherds figure around one hundred and fifteen to one hundred and twenty-five per cent and even higher. The male lambs were castrated and all had been docked. They were a mighty fine looking lot.

The other gentleman called me to his place during the early summer. I found his ewes, about four hundred, running in a cutover or brush pasture, with lambs at their sides. There was not enough feed in that pasture, if it had been stewed down, to have furnished nourishment for one ewe and a pair of lambs. The ewes were thin and weak, the lambs were also scrawny, and they did look like a sickly lot. I said to him: "You haven't any feed in this wild pasture that will produce milk on which to raise a lamb." He said he was feeding some silage, so I asked him concerning its quality and condition, and learned that it was mildewed and sour, therefore poisonous. He said that he had called the veterinarian and they had examined several of these sheep and lambs that had died, and they had found a condition in the stomach, which he called something, I have forgotten what. The veterinarians recommended that a vaccine be prepared and the entire flock vaccinated at once. I do not know whether this was done, but I remember saying to myself that if I was eating sour and poisonous food and was about starved, weak and sick, and carrying a heavy load, as were those ewes, and some one would say that such food was not the thing for me to eat, I would cut it out, and get some good, nutritious food, and let Nature do the rest.

So I said to him : "Why shoot any more poison into them, when they are full of it now? Put them on a good, tame pasture, bring them to the house at night, give your ewes and lambs a little grain and they will come out of this in a hurry." But, suffice it to say, he did not take my advice, as he could see only the result before him, a diseased sheep, because the doctor had so informed him. He shipped them to market, I mean the ones he hadn't finished killing. The lambs weighed about thirty-five to forty pounds, were thin as rails, and sold at a low price. His ewes also brought ruinous prices, because they were thin and looked bad.

These men started with the same kind of sheep, practically the same sheep, but one of them could only see the result and a way of doctoring it, while the other reasoned from cause to effect. The first man undoubtedly said at the beginning: "I have a fine, healthy lot of ewes, and there is a right result or answer to this problem I have before me. If I obtain the right result I will want credit for it, and if I make a mistake and get the wrong answer, I will accept the blame also." He watched his sheep closely and the minute one of them started going wrong, he knew it and set to work to find the cause and to remove it. The results show that he was successful. If the cause is removed, "Doc Nature" will be right there on the job to attend to the health end of it, for that is one of the best things he does, if not interfered with by man.

Must Give Value Received

Every day, somewhere on the market, may be found the man, who though honest enough, has fooled himself, because he did not have uppermost in his mind the desire to give good value. His stuff is not good, and he knows it, and yet he hopes to receive just as good a price as the fellow who has produced the goods. The good feeder always has him beat. He gets a much bigger gain for the feed consumed, and of course gets paid for a great many more pounds. It has been noticed that the good feeder who is just as anxious for his stuff to dress out well as the buyer, is always the prosperous feeder. He knows that if he slips by once he will get caught the next time.